


Be My Lois Lane

by steampunkcircus



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Chat Noir is the only hero in Paris, F/M, Marichat, Marichat May, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Superhero/Reporter AU, fite me, gross misuse of superhero tropes, newspaper reporter Marinette, no powers!Marinette, yes I named the paper The Daily Planet
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-05
Updated: 2019-08-02
Packaged: 2020-02-26 00:42:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,362
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18712996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/steampunkcircus/pseuds/steampunkcircus
Summary: Marinette is just a normal girl with a normal life, working with Alya as a journalist by day, working on her online fashion brand as "Ladybug" at night. Things were going just fine, until Chat Noir, Paris's very own (and only) hero saves her from a supervillain. Now she's assigned to report on Chat Noir full time, and he's surprisingly interview-shy.The Ladybug Miraculous was destroyed centuries ago. But every Chat Noir since has still found his soulmate. And Chat isn't sure if his "Ladybug" is the mysterious owner of the Ladybug online boutique or the cute reporter he saved and now can't seem to shake.Written for Marichat May.





	1. No Powers

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my Marichat May! Fun facts about this piece:  
> 1\. I have absolutely no plan of writing this "on time". At all. That's not how my life is going this year.  
> 2\. I only have a few chapters and vague plot points prepared, so it's another seat-of-my-pants Love Square month (that will absolutely take longer than a month).  
> 3\. I'm excited about this AU. Please enjoy :D

"I'll be fine, Mom!"

The memory of those words not ten minutes ago rang through Marinette's mind as she was thrown over the shoulder of the supervillain of the week and dragged along in whatever scheme this fruit-themed villain had in store. With as often as super-powered jerks attacked the city, there had been surprisingly little civilian involvement. They usually went after landmarks, maybe one or two specific people, and occasionally the zoo. So Marinette decided that she must have extremely bad luck to be one of the few random people off the street to end up in this situation.

"Interesting accessory you've got there."

Marinette twisted and managed to angle herself to be able to see the Hero of Paris, Chat Noir, smirking at her captor.

"She's a bit too pink to go with the rest of your ensemble there, though." Chat Noir took a step closer to the villain. "How about a trade? Let her go, and I'll get you a brand new Gabriel brand scarf. Don't ask how I got my hands on it, but let me say, you'll like it."

"What good are scarves when I have the power of the best-tasting food group at my beck and call?"

Marinette had to admit, this villain had an excellent villain laugh.

"Sure. Sure, but I have to ask." Another step closer. "What does she have to do with grains?"

The villain roared. "It's _fruits_!"

To Marinette's horror, the villain's next move was to chuck her off the side of the building.

She shut her eyes.

"I'll be fine, Mom!"

She was walking to her apartment from her parents' bakery. That shouldn't have been a high-risk situation!

"I'll be fine, Mom!"

It was half an hour until sunset. The streets she took were well populated at this time of day.

"I'll be fine, Mom!"

Never doubt Mom Senses.

She never knew how long she was free falling, but what felt like half a second or an eternity later, a solid mass slammed into her side, changing her momentum. Whatever it was, she clung to it. It wasn't until all motion stopped that she realized what -or who- had probably saved her.

"Hi there, Princess."

Marinette peeked her eyes open. She had her face pressed into a very nice chest covered in something not quite leather. She had her arms wrapped tightly around this person's torso. And he was smirking down at her. His trademark smirk.

With a squeak, Marinette detangled from Chat Noir and stepped back, arms flailing. "Um, that was, I mean, falling wasn't great, and I wasn't a fan of bouncing along on that guy's shoulder, but he _did_  smell like strawberries, and thank you." She brought her hands up to cover her burning cheeks. "Thanks for saving me."

"No problem." He glanced over his shoulder to see the fruit villain cackling and raising an army of melons. He was pelting the melons, one by one, against the building across from him. "You wouldn't happen to have some sort of magical ability to erase the damage this guy is doing, would you? The mayor blames me when these guys cause damage."

She blinked for a moment before crossing her arms. "If I had magical cleaning powers, do you think I would be walking around with half my shirt covered in baking flour?"

Chat Noir took in her whole outfit. "Probably not. But you do seem to have superhuman taste in clothes. I didn't know anyone else had heard of Ladybug's Lucky Charms Boutique."

Marinette found herself blushing again. "You can recognize the women's clothes from an online boutique on sight?"

He grinned. "Princess, I have never seen such talent as Miss Ladybug has." The sound of smashing glass behind them made Chat sigh. "Duty calls, I'm afraid." He bowed and took her hand, guiding her knuckles to his lips. "Stay out of trouble, Miss."

Marinette stood frozen, her hand still outstretched as Chat turned and ran towards the tidal wave of berries heading down the cross street. Before he got all the way there, she shouted, "Good luck!"

She got a quick wink in return.

That night, in her little, cozy apartment, Marinette set to stress baking. She focused on muffins, planning to bring them to work in the morning to celebrate the announcement of her promotion. She was halfway through her second batch when Alya called. She put her on speaker so she could move about the kitchen while they talked.

"Girl, I have good news and bad news."

"You finally asked Nino to move in with you?"

"Eeeh, not yet. Do you want the good news or bad news first?"

"Bad."

The line was silent.

"Alya?"

"Look, can you just ask for the good news first, please?"

"Why did you give me an option if you had a specific order you needed?"

"Just... please?"

Marinette sighed, her exasperation clearly exaggerated. "Alya, please give me the good news first."

"Oh, okay, since you asked so nicely."

"Alya!"

She laughed. "Okay, okay. So, the good news is, you're famous!"

"I'm what?" Her mind raced. Why was she famous? "Did one of the fashion bloggers report on my boutique?"

"That's the bad news." Alya paused, and Marinette knew it was for effect, not to give her a chance to prepare herself for whatever it was. "The bad news is, Nino got a couple of pictures of you being rescued by Paris's hottest hero, and you're tomorrow's front page news."

"Paris's only hero," Marinette said automatically. Then what Alya said hit her. "What? No! I don't want to be on the front page! Especially not for that! My mom's gonna kill me!"


	2. Greek

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things don't go quite as planned for Marinette at work the next morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know the prompt is actually "Greek AU", but this is already an AU, so uh... This is what I've got XD

"Dude! Did you see?"

Nino shoved a newspaper into Adrien's hands before he had fully turned his chair to face him.

"See what?" Adrien flattened the paper on the counter of his dressing room vanity and the question answered itself.

"I got a picture of Chat Noir in action! And it made the front page! Look, that's my name right there!"

Adrien stared at his face looking back at him. How had he missed Nino with a camera? He had never been photographed this close, this clearly before. He had been _so careful_  for the past year. If he had been paying attention, he could have turned so his back was to the camera easily enough.

"I found out I actually know the girl he saved. She's my girlfriend's best friend."

She was the problem. Something about her had caught his attention and kept it. It wasn't how _done_  she was with the villain; he had encountered that attitude often enough. It wasn't her cute outfit or stunningly blue eyes; he worked in fashion, surrounded by pretty people in pretty clothes. But for some reason, he hadn't been looking for cameras as he saved her.

"So? What do you think?"

Adrien looked up and smiled. He could be happy for his friend and freak out simultaneously. "I think I need to take you out for celebratory drinks when this fashion show is over."

Nino chatted away about the picture for a bit longer before he had to leave to set up his camera equipment for the show that night. He reached for the paper to take it with him. Adrien dropped his hand down on it, pinning it in place.

"Actually, can I keep this copy?"

Nino's grin was contagious. "Sure, bro. I grabbed a few. I'm kinda flattered you like it that much."

Adrien looked down at the woman clinging to him in the picture, her eyes shut and nose scrunched up, but her arms holding strong around him.

"I think you really captured them."

Nino left, and Adrien leaned his elbow on the counter, staring at the hero action shot. What was it about the lady in his arms?

And was there any way to see her again?

&&

"It's too late to disguise yourself now, M."

Marinette had wrapped a scarf around her head, worn a giant, bulky sweater to hide her shape, and had sunglasses on inside the newspaper office. They were sitting in the conference room, stirring their coffees and waiting for everyone else to show up for the weekly morning staff meeting where Marinette and a couple of other interns were to be officially promoted.

"If Nino didn't recognize me before handing the picture off to your boss, then this should be the perfect disguise. No one at the paper has to know that 'Chat Noir saves young woman' is me."

Alya plucked Marinette's sunglasses off her face and tucked them in the pocket of her flannel. "I dunno, you've got a pretty noticeable face. And it's good publicity for the paper, too. You know, the place that signs your paycheck?"

"But it's my face! Don't I get to control when and how my face is used?"

"Did you read what you signed when you started working here? They can use our image or likeness at any point so long as it reflects well on the paper, basically."

Marinette groaned. "I knew that joining you in journalism until I get my clothing lines off the ground was a bad idea."

"Well, it's too late now. In a few minutes, you'll be Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Junior Fashion Reporter."

"Yeah, such a giant leap up from fact checker and coffee fetcher."

"You do fetch a mean coffee."

Marinette walked over to fiddle with her basket of muffins in the center of the table refreshments table. "You, Junior Super Hero Reporter; Foreign Hero Activity, abused your power over us lowly interns, and once we're equals and I'm settled at my desk, I'm making sure the whole office knows of your cruelty."

"Equals in job description only," Alya said. "I have seniority on my side, still."

Bridgette, the head of the paper, poked her head in the conference room. "Marinette? Could you come with me for a moment?"

Marinette exchanged a look with Alya before following Bridgette down the hall to her office. Marinette's heart dropped when Bridgette closed the door.

"How are you doing?" Bridgette asked, gesturing for Marinette to sit in the chair across her desk.

"Fine. A little embarrassed that Nino managed to get a picture of one of my most embarrassing moments."

Bridgette waved a hand at that. "You did nothing embarrassing. The man in the spandex suit made to look like a banana peel, on the other hand, he should feel embarrassed." She frowned and leaned forward. "But you're okay? You're not hurt? An experience like that can be really scary. If you need some time off-"

"Oh, no, I'm fine, really!" She slid her headscarf down around her neck. "May I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Bridgette said.

"Is something else wrong? Because I get the feeling something else is wrong."

Bridgette smiled, but there was something behind it that added to the feeling that something was about to happen. "That's what I like about you, Dupain-Cheng. You're quick. You have excellent instincts. You follow your gut. That's why I knew, even with minimal writing experience, that you would be a good fit here." She paused to take a breath. "I have some bad news, some kinda-nice news, and something to try to make up for the bad news."

Marinette's heart, which had been sinking since Bridgette called her away, settled with a dull _thunk_  deep in her gut. "I'm not getting promoted to Junior Fashion Reporter, am I?"

&&

Marinette lowered herself into her seat next to Alya and did her best not to give in to the desire to just slump forward and let her upper body dangle over her knees like a limp cloth doll. It wasn't even eight in the morning and already she felt drained.

"What happened?" Alya whispered as Bridgette started the meeting. Marinette shook her head and turned to stare at the front of the room, absorbing nothing.

"-And welcome to the staff, our newest Junior Reporter, Chloe Bourgeois. She will be in the Fashion Department. I am also-"

A blonde woman with a ponytail (and too much attitude for anyone over the age of fifteen) stood, cutting Bridgette off in the middle of her sentence. "Hello! I'm sure most of you know who I am, but for any of you who are new to town, I am Chloe Bourgeois, the daughter of the mayor. Of Paris. My father has always been a great supporter of the press, and I hope to continue to support his vision for how the Daily Planet can improve in-"

"Thank you, Chloe," Bridgette said, slapping her hand down on the podium but with a tense smile firmly pasted across her face. "As I was saying, please congratulate our very own Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her hard work, dedication, and _proven writing skill_  have _earned_  her the position of Junior Reporter in our award-winning Superhero Department."

Marinette had the feeling that the skills Bridgette listed had less to do with how Bridgette saw her, and more with what she saw Chloe to be lacking.

When the meeting ended, Marinette mechanically collected the baskets that had held her muffins. Other interns and reporters congratulated her, and she did her best to respond like she didn't have a small tornado ripping through the landscape of her mind. She was working her way through another awkward, "Thank you, I'm excited to contribute," when a hand latched onto her arm, pulling her away and shouting something to the person with whom Marinette had been talking.

"M! What is going on?"

Marinette looked around and found she was in a supply closet with Alya. "I didn't know we had so many types of pens."

Alya looked around the room, then back at Marinette. "You were an intern. You were never sent to grab stuff from this supply closet?"

"I guess not."

Alya shook her head, then pushed her glasses back into place. "Marinette, what happened to your promotion? Who is this Chloe girl who has your job?"

Marinette laughed, finally, fully coming back to herself. "'My job.' Oh, Alya, I have a feeling I'm going to miss the intern days."

"Girl!"

Marinette sighed. "Okay, this is off the record, and you can't let anyone know you know. Especially Bridgette. Okay?"

Alya tucked her pen behind her ear and stuck her phone in her back pocket. The Alya gesture of 'I'm not writing anything down or recording it. This is between us.’

"The mayor called in a lot of favors to get his precious little girl her dream job. So the Fashion Reporter job was taken, and they don't have the budget for two Junior Reporters in Fashion right now. Because of the timing of the Chat Noir picture, Bridgette and Nadja decided it would be best to give me the promotion, even if it's not the department I want. I'm now the official reporter on all things Chat Noir."

"Aw, Marinette." Alya threw her arms around her. "That sucks! I know how much you wanted this, how hard you worked for it."

Marinette hugged her back, resting her head on Alya's shoulder for a few seconds. "Thanks. It's not all bad, though. You and I get to work in the same department. Nadja is a family friend, so I already know how my boss acts and thinks. And..."

Alya pulled away, squinting at the lighter tone Marinette had taken. "And?"

"And Bridgette felt a little guilty, and wants to make sure I stay until a position opens up in Fashion, so I negotiated a slightly bigger raise than she originally offered. I make almost as much as you, now."

Alya fist bumped her. "Alright! Good for you, girl."

Marinette shrugged but smiled. "Thanks. I guess I'm just doing what I can with what I've got."

Alya hugged her again. "Well, I'm glad it's not all bad. But, would you turn down a little cheering up anyway?"

Marinette shook her head. "I don't trust your definition of 'cheering up,' Alya Cesaire. I'm still bruised from 'cheering up' Alix last month."

"Really?" Alya pulled something from her pocket. "What if I said we could spend the evening looking at some individuals who could put Greek gods to shame?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hint: Alya is not taking her to a strip club.
> 
> Talk with me over at [cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com](https://cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com/) if you like :)


	3. Kittens

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette receives an apology present from Nino. Adrien tells Nino about a girl.

"Look! Look, Alya! I may faint. Gorgeous."

Alya looked up from her phone to the runway. "The girl or the clothes?"

Marinette couldn't tear her eyes from the model. "I meant the clothes, but both."

The Gabriel fashion show was exactly the distraction Marinette had needed after her first day as a Junior Reporter. It wasn't even time for lunch yet when Chloe had heard through the grapevine that she had "taken" Marinette's job. Marinette had been sorting through the records of past articles on Chat Noir when Chloe stopped to talk to (more like corner) an intern about how some _other_ person almost got _her_  job and how narrowly the paper had avoided disaster by hiring her. She just "happened" to talk to the intern loudly, and three feet from Marinette's desk. The day had gone downhill from there.

"You wanna go backstage after?" Alya asked, returning to texting.

"Nino can swing that?"

Nino had gotten Alya two tickets to the fashion show to celebrate Marinette's promotion. He hadn't told Alya how he had gotten the tickets, but he did mention that they weren't a job perk.

"Apparently. He says there's a surprise."

Marinette groaned and leaned her head on Alya's shoulder. "No more surprises. Today and last night were enough surprises. No more, just for a little while?"

Alya gave her a quick side hug, then went back to texting. "I'll see if I can get it out of him for you."

Marinette meant to thank her. However, she seemed to have lost her voice. It had been stolen away by the sight on the runway. All she could do was grip Alya's arm and try to catch her breath.

"What?" Alya asked, still not looking up.

"Him."

Marinette was vaguely aware of Alya teasing her, but she didn't care. The single most attractive person she had ever seen was stopping at the end of the runway and smirking at her. With a tip of his hat- and was that a wink?- he turned and walked back up the runway, giving her a view of just how well the back of his black, shimmery suit fit him.

"Starstruck." Alya's singsong teasing finally made its way into her brain. "That was Adrien Agreste, wasn't it?"

"This is his second appearance since going to Japan for university," Marinette said.

Alya snorted. "Good to know your celebrity crush is alive and well."

"Can you blame me?" Marinette asked. "Oooh, look at the way this jacket drapes on her shoulders!"

"Don't change the- Oh, you're right. I want one like that."

* * *

 

"Thank you, Nino!" Marinette hugged him and, being Marinette, almost knocked them both over.

"Ready for your second surprise?" Nino asked, setting Marinette on her feet.

"Is it a good surprise like the fashion show? Or a bad surprise like you getting a picture of me with that stupid super-cat and giving it to the paper?" She crossed her arms and pursed her lips as he opened a door for her and Alya.

"Marinette, bro, I can't apologize enough. The fashion show was a 'yay promotion' present. This is a 'sorry I sold a picture of you and Chat Noir before figuring out that you were the one in the picture but in my defense, you can only see a little of your face but I'm still sorry anyway please don't me be mad at me' present."

Marinette looked around the room. It was a private dressing room for a model, with a person behind the curtain tossing clothes onto the couch against the wall. Whose dressing room was this? Was the surprise that she was getting to meet one of the models? She looked closer at the clothes. Was... was this Adrien Agreste's dressing room?

"Alya was saying how you've been feeling a little lonely lately, so I figured I'd introduce you to-"

Adrien stepped out from behind the changing curtain in jeans and a plain black t-shirt, looking even better in casual, everyday clothes than the runway pieces.

And then a squirmy, sleepy mass of fluff was shoved in her face.

"-these kittens!" Nino finished.

"Oooh..." Marinette breathed, holding out her hands for the kitten. His fur was pure black, with a little pink nose and big brown eyes. He cuddled into Marinette's chest and began purring the moment she pulled him close.

"These are your friends?" Adrien asked.

"Yeah, hey bro!" Nino walked over to slap Adrien on the back. "This is my girlfriend, Alya, and my childhood bestie, aka Alya's college bestie, Marinette. Lady-bros, meet Adrien Agreste. He’s the one who got me the tickets for you."

"Any friend of Nino's is a friend of mine," Adrien said, shaking both girl's hands. "I hear there's a promotion to celebrate?"

"Ugh, don't remind me," Marinette said, bowing her head to drop a kiss on the kitten's ear.

"She got pushed out of the job she wanted," Nino explained, picking up a second kitten from the small, towel-lined bin. "Our fashionista is gonna be reporting on our local hero cat-boy. That part's my fault, I told you about that."

Adrien turned to Marinette, eyes widening. "You're the rescued-by-Chat Noir girl?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Let me tell you about how that cat ruined my life."

* * *

 

Adrien watched Alya, Marinette, and Marinette's new kitten, Shadow, head to Alya's car an hour later.

"So that's Marinette?" Adrien said to Nino.

"That's Marinette!" They gathered their things, heading out for the celebratory drink that Adrien had promised Nino for his picture in the paper.

"She really doesn't like Chat Noir," he said.

"Nah, she's just mad that she has to report on him."

"She's also really into fashion," Adrien said. Marinette had had three topics: Chat Noir, her new kitten, and fashion.

"Yeah, she's got her finger on the pulse of the city's... fashion... stuff. That's why she woulda been perfect in the junior reporter position for that department."

The wheels in Adrien's head started turning. Before he could talk himself out of it, he asked, "Could you give me her phone number? I've been looking for someone- a designer. Marinette knows fashion and has investigative journalism skills, so I figured-"

"Why can't you ask around work?" Nino asked. He was pulling out his phone and opening his contacts as he spoke though.

"I don't want word getting back to my father. If he thinks I'm looking to leave the company-"

"Say no more."

Adrien's phone pinged with a text, and he had Marinette's number saved in his phone a moment later. One step closer...

They settled in at a bar before Nino let his curiosity get the better of him.

"So, who is this person you're looking for?"

Who indeed?

"Well... there was this girl..."

* * *

_Six Months Ago_

"Sorry, but this is probably smaller than you're used to," the nervous designer, Jakob, said, guiding Adrien to a small, curtained dressing area.

"This is more than enough room," Adrien said, looking over the rack of clothes. "And I'm excited to work with you."

The fashion show was a small one for new designers and students finishing fashion school to get the attention of bigger name labels. Adrien and a few other models had volunteered to work with the designers to help their labels find new hires.

Someone sneezed in the dressing area to the right of Adrien's.

"Bless you," Adrien said automatically.

"Thank you," A raspy voice replied. "I've been working so hard to prepare for this show, the second my work was set, this cold hit."

"That's unfortunate," Adrien said. Jakob started handing him pieces of clothing and helping him adjust the clothing for the right fit.

"I'm happy to be here, though," the woman in the other area said. "What about you? Have you been in fashion long?"

"All my life," Adrien said. "My name's Adrien Agreste."

The woman cleared her throat. "Oh. Um. Wow. Yeah, you have been in fashion your whole life, huh?"

The model working with her snorted. "Don't let Agreste fool you, he's a dork."

"Oh, hey, Chelsea!" Adrien called, recognizing the model's voice.

"This your first show since you got back last year?" Chelsea asked.

"Yeah, I figured I'd start with people who were actually happy to see me," he joked.

Someone closer to the stage yelled something barely comprehensible, and the flurry of activity picked up. Designers made their final adjustment and the first few models headed to get in order for the catwalk.

"What's your name, Miss Designer?" Adrien asked before Jakob could pull him out of the dressing area.

"Ladybug."

Adrien stopped dead. "Excuse me?"

Chelsea giggled. "Ladybug here won't tell anyone her name. We've all been pestering her, asking for it, but that's her thing, not sharing her real name."

"My brand is my identity," Ladybug said.

"Adrien, you need to get in line!" Jakob said.

"I'm gonna ask about that in a minute," Adrien said.

Between turns on the catwalk, Adrien and Ladybug got to know each other, as much as Ladybug would let him know her. She had one semester left of school, she had an online boutique for her brand, she had always felt drawn to Ladybugs, and yes, she had had a celebrity crush on him as a teenager. Whenever Jakob wasn't in the dressing room with him, Adrien was giving Plagg significant looks from where he had nested in his messenger bag.

Adrien was working his way up to asking Ladybug to get a drink that night when he heard her gasp.

“Ladybug? You okay? Stick yourself with another pin?”

“It’s- it’s my mom,” she said. “She slipped on the ice on the sidewalk and hit her head. She’s in the hospital.”

“What do you need, hon?” Chelsea asked.

“I need, um…” Adrien could hear the tears in her voice, even with the cold she had. “I need to go to her.”

“But the show! You’re doing so great!” Jakob said.

“We can take care of it,” Chelsea said. “Jakob, Adrien, and I can get your last two outfits on me and I’ll speak to the labels on your behalf, okay?”

“Absolutely,” Adrien said.

“Yeah, we’ve got this, go,” Jakob said.

Ladybug sniffled. “Are you sure? You’ll have to do two models at once-”

“LB, you got me through sophomore year in one piece,” Jakob said. “The least I can do is this.”

* * *

 

“And then she was gone,” Adrien said. “I never saw her face, and I didn’t get her name or number or anything.”

“Dude. That’s some fairy tale stuff there,” Nino said. “Chelsea didn’t have her contact info?”

“She didn’t,” Adrien said with a sigh. “And while I trust her not to let word get around, I don’t trust anyone else not to let my father know I’m looking for another designer.”

“Well, if anyone can find her, it’s Marinette,” Nino said.

“I can hope,” Adrien said. He rested his hand on the pocket of his blazer where Plagg was napping.

_I can hope I’ll find my Ladybug again_.

And maybe… maybe Chat Noir could use this phone number to find out more about the woman assigned to be his personal journalist. Curiosity may have killed the cat, but no one said anything about cats and a little bit of teasing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! And neither is this fic! Just... slow. But you know what makes me _less_ slow? Talking to me on Tumblr.  
> [cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com](https://cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com/) :)


	4. Birthday

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien has two very different conversations with Marinette.

"You're sure the Miraculous magic is strong enough to disguise my voice?" Adrien asked Plagg.

"Look, kid, I may be weakened without my other half, but I'm not some frail, sickly little thing like the Peacock, okay?" Plagg gulped down a Camembert wedge in one piece and laid on his back on the couch, rubbing his belly. "I still don't get why you have to call her again. You just saw her a couple of hours ago."

"As Adrien. I'm calling her as Chat."

"But why?"

"She's the one who decides what the public thinks about me. It'd be nice to start off on a better foot than what she thinks of me so far."

Plagg gave a dramatic sigh. "Let's get this over with."

Adrien transformed, put the scrap of paper with Marinette's phone number in his pocket, crept out of his window, and bounded out into the night.

* * *

_Earlier that day_

Adrien stepped into the coffee shop and knew he had to get decaf. He was practically vibrating out of his skin. Marinette might be able to find Ladybug! He had to ask her still, but that’s why they were having this meetup.

He spotted Marinette in line for coffee and joined her.

"Thanks for meeting me," Adrien said.

"Any friend of Nino's is a friend of mine," she said.

"That's my line!"

They reached the counter and a man with shocking red hair greeted them.

"Marinette! I didn't know you were coming here today!"

"I texted Marc!"

"They're always forgetting their phone."

"Adrien, this is Nathaniel. He, his partner Marc, Nino, and I all went to high school together. We were the nerdy art kids. Nath, this is Nino's friend from work, Adrien."

They exchanged greetings and coffee orders, and Adrien and Marinette went to claim a table.

"Nath and Marc opened this place a couple of years ago," Marinette said. "Marc was still in the middle of their business degree when they did."

"I like the superhero theme," Adrien said, glancing around at the murals on the walls.

"Business really picked up after that stupid alley cat started running around." She wrinkled her nose. "They even have that awful picture from the paper hanging behind the counter."

"I'm telling you, it's not a bad picture of you," Adrien said, trying not to smirk.

"Here you go," Nath said, bringing their drinks over personally. "And a muffin for the birthday girl. I didn't make cupcakes this morning because I didn't think I'd see you today."

"You don't need to give me a muffin-" Nath had started walking away, hands covering his ears, pretending he couldn't hear her. "Thank you! Dork."

Marinette turned back to Adrien, ducking her head a little. Her cheeks had more pink than a moment before, and Adrien found himself smiling at her shyness.

"Happy birthday," he said.

"Thank you." She started picking at her muffin. "So, you were kinda vague in your messages about what I could help you with. What's up?"

Adrien took a breath. The jitters came back in full force. "You are the first person I really know with investigative skills who is also part of the fashion scene in Paris."

Marinette's eyebrows drew together. “Okay…”

“I want to find someone.”

* * *

 

Marinette's heart rate picked up. She was already trying very hard to play it cool. A literal supermodel had asked her to coffee for help with a vague problem. Now she was finally getting to know what she could do, and honestly, she was excited. There would be some jumping up and down and screaming and dancing Shadow around the apartment later.

"There's a designer I met a few months ago. I don't know her name. I can't really look for her myself because I don't want word getting around that I'm looking for her. So I was hoping, if you don't mind, you would help me? I would pay you for your time, of course."

A sense of cold dread started trickling down her spine. She tried to convince herself it was just the air conditioning.

"I, uh, I can probably help. I'd feel bad taking your money, though, because I'm just starting out." Adrien started to protest, but she cut him off with a raised hand. "I insist! It'll be a favor for a new friend, okay?"

Adrien hesitated, then nodded, a small smile on his face. "Okay. But I'll owe you a big favor in return, alright?"

"That works for me! So, who are you looking for?"

His smile grew. "Her name is Ladybug."

It wasn't the air conditioning.

* * *

 

"What do I do? Why did I say yes? This is a disaster!"

Marinette was pacing her apartment, Shadow following her and living up to his name. She had her phone to her ear, and the other was waving wildly.

"Why is this a disaster?" Alya asked. "A hot, rich guy in your chosen field of work wants to find you. And don't think you're getting out of explaining to me why you didn't tell me about the hours you spent flirting with Adrien Agreste right after it happened."

"Uh, my mom was in the hospital?" She stopped walking and Shadow took advantage to wind around her legs, mewling at her.

"Oh, yeah, that was awful. How's she doing?"

"Really well. She says hi, by the way."

"Aw, I need to stop by the bakery and give her a hug. So why didn't you tell me at any point in the last six months after we knew your mom would be okay?"

Marinette whined in annoyance. "Because... I don't know! It was just such a nice moment, and I figured I would never meet him again, so I just wanted to, like, hold on to it for myself." She sat where she was, in the middle of the floor, and pulled Shadow onto her lap. "And now I've met him again, and we're kinda becoming friends, and he wants me to find... myself."

Alya's voice had softened after that rant. "And again I ask: that's a problem _why_?"

"Remember why I transferred to your university and hid my real name from everyone I could?"

"Oof. Yeah. The design thief. What's she got to do with Adrien?"

"The first company she went to when trying to drive me out of fashion was the Gabriel brand. She works there now. If Adrien's trying to get Ladybug to work for Gabriel, I'll be ruined when they figure out that Ladybug is me. Oh! Or what if his father wanted him to look for Ladybug to drive her out of business? My shop is small, but it could be seen as competition. Or maybe-"

"Woah, Marinette, chill! You don't know that any of that is true."

Shadow's ears perked up suddenly. He dove off Marinette's lap and sat in front of the sliding glass door to the fourth-floor balcony, staring into the darkness with the same intensity he gave the youtube video of birds Marinette liked to play for him.

"I don't know that it's not, either. I'm not risking my business. The online boutique is doing well, and at this rate, I'll have enough saved up to open a small physical store at the end of next year."

"What if he's asking about Ladybug because he enjoyed talking to you at that fashion show? What if you're his Cinderella?"

Marinette snorted. "Yeah, that'll be the day."

Marinette's phone beeped. She pulled it away from her ear and found an unknown number on call waiting.

"Hey, Al? Mind if we talk more tomorrow? I've got another call."

The girls said goodnight and Marinette took the incoming call.

"Hello?"

"Miss Dupain-Cheng. It's nice to hear your voice under less un-fur-tunate circumstances than those of our first meeting."

Marinette frowned. Who in the world was calling her to deliver bad cat puns at quarter past eleven at night?

"I'm sorry," she started, "who is-"

"Oh, how rude of me," the caller interrupted. "This is your friendly neighborhood superhero."

Marinette blinked a few times. Was this a prank? Had Chloe found her phone number and gotten some guy to pretend to be Chat Noir?

"You're telling me that you're Chat Noir?"

"Yes. And you're Marinette! Now that we've straightened that out-"

"Who put you up to this?" she interrupted. "My first guess is Chloe, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the others in the department at work thought this would be funny."

"I- what? No, it's really me."

"Why would I believe that?" She got as close to crossing her arms as she could while holding the phone to her ear. "You're the hero of Paris, and known to be wary of the press. Why would you call me up out of the blue if you really were Chat Noir?"

"I... okay," he said, speech slowing, "I didn't plan on having to convince you of who I am. What would convince you of who I am?"

"What did you say to the guy you rescued me from? Right when you showed up? Only Chat would know that."

"That... why did you have an answer for that so quickly? Do you think up ways to make people you meet prove they're who they are often?"

"Sounds like you're stalling."

"I'm not-! Okay, let me think. He was... some kind of banana... fruit salad guy... I said something about you being too pink and not a good accessory for his outfit, I think? This was a week ago, so I don't remember exactly."

Marinette hummed, pursing her lips. Was there any chance someone had overheard them? Probably not. So that meant-

"Holy crap, Chat Noir called me on my cell phone."

Chat laughed. "You believe me now?"

She covered her face with her free hand. "Yes. Sorry I bidn't delieve you- Sorry I didn't believe you!" Curse that nervous stumbling of her tongue! "So, Chat Noir. What can I help you with?"

"A little birdie told me that you're the new Chat Noir reporter for The Daily Planet," he said. "I got curious. Cats and curiosity, you know? So I figured I'd give you a call, get to know you a little."

"Do you have an in at the paper?" she asked.

“Maybe.”

"Yes, I'm your new reporter. That stupid picture of you saving me got me pigeon-holed into reporting on you instead of the position I actually wanted."

"Hmm. You sound, purr-haps, unhappy with this assignment?"

She sighed. "It's not you. It's that there was another job I liked better. And, from the little research I've managed to do on you so far, you've avoided or turned down literally every interview, picture, or question since you showed up. Sounds like I won't be getting many quotes from you, which makes my job harder."

"I am sorry about that. I take my job very seriously, so I don’t want the distraction of interviews, and I very much don’t want my hero life and personal life at any risk of mixing."

"Then why did you call? If you're not going to work with me, why take the time to hunt down my phone number?"

"I told you, curiosity."

"You know I could probably write about six articles from this conversation alone, right?"

He gave a small laugh. "Oh, but my research on you didn't stop at your phone number, Princess. You're not the type to print something I haven't okayed. You put the 'integrity' in 'journalistic integrity' from what I hear."

"Princess? Are you serious with that nickname?"

"Hmm, maybe not. I'll think of some others."

Her instincts were still nagging at her. "And you really called just to test out your theory that I'm a good person?"

"Okay, you got me," he said. "My research also found out another little fact about you."

"And what's that?"

"Go out on your balcony."

"...Seriously?"

He laughed again. "Just do it, please?"

Marinette scooped Shadow up from where he was napping in front of the door and held him to her chest so he couldn't get into trouble on the balcony. She pinned her phone between her ear and her shoulder and opened the door.

"Look down."

At first, she thought he meant down on the ground, stories below. Then her eyes fell on something shiny on the floor of the balcony near the bars. She picked it up and took it inside, setting Shadow down while she stared at the item in her hands.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Open it."

She opened the box wrapped in silver paper. Inside was a beautiful, high-quality notebook- just the right size for a reporter to keep in her purse- and a fancy pen that felt just right in her hand.

"I- why did- thank you?" She shook her head. "Why the gift?"

"A reporter needs a good notebook and pen," he said. "And I'm sure you know that cats like leaving 'gifts' for people." That got a small chuckle out of her. "But I dropped it off because of that detail I found out about you." He paused, and she turned to squint out the balcony door into the dark streets below. "Happy birthday, Marinette."

She frowned at the box in her hands. "Wait, how did you-"

He hung up.

Marinette sighed and sat on the floor again, petting a sleepy Shadow where he had curled next to the couch. "He's clever," she said. "If he's going to be difficult about interviews, then I'm going to have to be clever to get what I need so I can write about him."

Shadow stretched, yawned, and got up to walk away.

"This job might be a little bit fun after all."

She opened her journal, uncapped her pen, and started taking notes. She wouldn't use anything from his phone call in any articles, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to save the information for her own use.

* * *

 

Chat replayed his conversation with Marinette in his head, hand still on the phone he had just placed back on the receiver, and let himself smile. He would remain a mystery to the city in all the important ways- who he was, where he lived, who was important to him- but Marinette would probably be good for his image overall. She didn't really hate him, as she had tried to convince Adrien earlier that day, and last week at the fashion show. One phone call, one small gift, and she sounded much less angry.

At home, Adrien fed Plagg and settled down with a book. He was just getting to the good part when Plagg floated over the pages to sit blocking his view of the words.

"So, did that conversation go as you planned?" Plagg asked.

"Yeah, it pretty much did," he said. "She could be a very useful ally." He tried to hide a smile as he brushed Plagg out of the way of his book. "And it sounds like she'll have some fun with the job, now that she knows getting information from me will be a challenge."

Plagg sighed. "So long as I get my cheese, you can flirt and play games with Reporter Girl as much as you want."

Adrien rolled his eyes and gave Plagg another piece of cheese. "Maybe I will. I think we'd both enjoy a game of... cat and mouse."

Plagg gave a long-suffering sigh. It was always like this before his Chat identified his Ladybug. Hopefully, these kids will figure it out quickly. If only for his sanity.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know what's fun? Saying hi to me on [tumblr](https://cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com/)!


	5. Baking

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette dives headfirst into her new assignment for the paper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, uh, I'm still alive. Here's a chapter! The next one is almost done, so it should be up soon.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng woke up with a plan.

And a cat trying to sleep over her mouth and nose.

But she had a plan.

"I have a plan," she told Nadja the moment she found her in the break room that morning.

"That's good. Go do it."

"You don't want to hear what the plan is?"

"Trust your instincts. Go follow that lead."

Marinette thanked her and returned to her desk, the buzz of determination and a lead settling into her bones.

Or maybe she'd made the coffee too strong that morning.

Marinette dove down the rabbit hole, searching every social media site she could think to search. She had forty names on her list, eleven with date, time, and location written next to them when Alya interrupted her.

"You ready?"

Marinette blinked up at her. It took a minute for her to surface from the deep research. "Ready for what?"

"...Lunch? We were gonna go to your place and dote on Shadow and come up with a plan about your little identity problem?"

"Lunch? But it's only-"

Alya held out her phone, the clock displaying in harsh black and white. "It's only lunchtime?"

"Oh." Marinette looked down at her work scattered across her desktop. "Can you give me five minutes? I just need to wrap a bit of this up."

Alya laughed. "Sure." She grabbed a chair from an empty desk and settled next to Marinette to read on her phone until she was done. "I didn't expect to have to do this yet."

"Do what?” Marinette asked, typing quick goodbyes to all her open conversations.

“Have to drag you away from work to eat after you lose track of time.”

Marinette bit her lip and let what Alya said roll around her mind while she finished closing out conversations and locking her computer.

“I guess… a project is a project? And I’ll always get lost in a project?” Marinette said. She locked her computer and stood.

Alya linked arms with her. "Mmm, I dunno. I think that maybe, just maybe... you're starting to like being in my department."

"But fashion!" Marinette whined.

"You get more than enough fashion spending every spare second creating for your online boutique."

"I have to have fresh stuff!"

Marinette and Alya had the same debate about the boutique every few days. Alya insisted Marinette didn't need to hide her identity up to the last second, that she didn't have to fear big names like Gabriel now that she had a line of her own. Marinette felt it would be safer to wait until she had a physical store from which to sell. They both had good points, but Alya was pretty sure Marinette's were backed by a little too much fear and self-doubt.

"What are you doing?" Alya asked when Marinette started pulling things out of her pantry, ignoring the lunch she had placed on the table a moment before.

"I need to bake."

"You need to eat. Why would you need to bake?"

"For the people."

Alya stood and took a mixing bowl out of Marinette's hands, holding her wrists (gently) so she couldn't dive back into baking preparations. "What people, M?"

"The people with stories."

"Marinette?"

Her eyes were on the container of sugar, squinting at how much she had left. "Mmm?"

"Wanna come back to earth for a minute and tell me what's going on?"

A second later, Marinette's eyes lost their hyper-focused look and she stopped straining to get out of Alya's hold and reach for the container of eggs. "I'm going to interview as many people who have seen, talked to, fought, or been saved by Chat Noir as possible."

Alya followed the logical trail from there. "And you want to bake something for these people?"

Marinette nodded.

Alya sighed. "Let's get one batch started so it can bake while we eat, then we'll do a few more before we go back."

* * *

 

"I should save some cookies for Marc and Nath, right?" Marinette asked as they cleaned up while the last batch was in the oven. "I'll be having as many interviews at the park across the street from them as I can, and they like to refuse to let me pay for refills."

"Absolutely. And maybe if you have any left over, you have a best friend going on another plane ride soon?"

"Where are you going?"

"There's rumors of a new superhero in Sydney. We're collecting a little more info before shipping me off, but this one sounds promising."

"As soon as you know your departure time, I'll have a few things ready to go with you." Marinette leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Gotta make sure you're well-fed when you're away from me."

"You're the sweetest. That's probably why your baking is so good."

"Or, you know, growing up in a bakery."

* * *

 

Marinette took her basket of cookies to Marc and Nath's cafe, The Talon. They agreed to let her leave the majority of the cookies behind the counter, taking a neatly packaged few out to each interview. She sat down, prepared her phone's voice recording app, and opened her new birthday present notebook.

"Are you the reporter who wanted to know about Chat Noir?"

Marinette smiled and stood, extending her hand to the woman. She looked to be in her mid-thirties and had brought two young children with her. "Yes, I'm Marinette. You must be Anna."

While her children played in the park, Anna told Marinette the story of how Chat Noir had saved her. It was a very similar story to her own. Grabbed by a supervillain, held hostage on a rooftop, and Chat Noir tried to talk the villain down.

"Chat Noir was still just a rumor at the time," she said. "I couldn't really see him, so I thought it was just some guy trying to help. Then the guy who took me held up his laser-blasting thing and I ducked. Chat Noir yelled some strange word. I heard some kind of... magical sound."

"Do you remember what the word was?" Marinette asked. She added to her notebook, _Chat Noir might have magic beyond his baton_.

"No, sorry. I might recognize it if I heard it again, though."

Marinette nodded. "What happened after that? What did you see next?"

"When I looked up, the gun was gone, the villain was face down on the roof, and Chat Noir was using zip ties to secure him to a pipe." She looked over at where her children were playing. "He saved me, and my children still have a mother because he was there."

Marinette smiled. "I'm so glad."

"He stayed with me until I was calm. He went and found my purse when I said I had dropped it. He walked with me to the police- well, he walked with me until we could see the building, then waited nearby until I was inside. He showed up on my walk home from work the next night. He didn't come over or say anything, but he made sure I saw he was nearby. He showed up most nights for a week or two. I felt safe again because he went out of his way."

Marinette looked down at her list of questions. That was quite a different picture than the flirty cat from the phone call last night or the goof who offered a supervillain a scarf in exchange for his hostage.

"Do you have anything else you'd like to say about him?" she asked, surfacing from her own thoughts.

"I don't know why he's here, or what his ultimate goal is, but I'm so glad he's here. Whatever this city will face in the future, we'll be okay because we have him on our side."

* * *

 

The rest of the interviews took a couple of weeks. Nath started complaining that he was going to get fat if Marinette kept giving them cookies. Marinette replied that she was going to vibrate out of her skin if he kept stopping to visit her with refills of her favorite coffee order between interviews.

"That was the last one!" she said, flopping dramatically against the counter in front of Nath.

He nudged her out of the way and started cleaning the counter, shooting her an annoyed glance. "You really think that was the last person in the city to have encountered Chat Noir?"

"No, not by a long shot," she said. She stepped behind the counter to grab one of the leftover packages of cookies for herself. "But forty-seven people is more than enough. I've put out a couple articles of the more dramatic stories of being saved already, ones with a couple witnesses to corroborate. Now I'll write something about the patterns in the stories, what's known about him, how he acts, stuff like that."

"Uh-huh. And after that?"

She slumped and opened the package of cookies. "After that, maybe he'll like my writing so much he'll let me interview him?"

Nath patted her on the shoulder and stole a cookie. "Good luck with that."

* * *

 

Marinette was walking home at sunset (with one hand on the can of pepper spray in her pocket), a little too full of cookies to be seriously considering a real dinner, when she saw something move in the shadows ahead of her.

She stared at the darkness for a minute but nothing could be seen. "There's no one there," she muttered to herself.

She had just started walking again when the shadows slid again and formed into a person.

"Okay, back off, you-"

"Hey! Hey! You can put that away. I was just going to offer an escort home. You look a little nervous."

The fact that Chat Noir was standing in front of her finally registered. She blushed and shoved the pepper spray back into her pocket. "Sorry about that."

Chat shrugged and held out his arm. "I'm glad you're doing something to feel safer. So, how about that escort?"

She linked her arm through his. "Sounds nice."

Marinette watched Chat Noir out of the corner of her eye as they walked. "You do this a lot, huh? Walk home anyone who looks nervous or like they're in danger?"

He smiled. "I'd heard you were asking around about me."

"I'll figure you out, Kitty."

It was Chat's turn to blush, just enough that she could see the pink under his mask in the dying light.

“I have to ask that you _not_ refer to me as ‘Kitty’ in your articles.”

“Will you give me a quote in exchange for that?” she asked. She hoped the teasing smirk she shot him let him know she would respect his wishes whether he did or not.

“Sure. Here’s a quote. ‘If the world were flat, I would knock all the bad guys off the edge.’”

She stopped walking, a look of confusion taking over.

“You… what? Why? What does that even mean?”

“I… you know… like- like cats? They knock stuff off of tables? And I’m trying to help the city, so bad guys…”

He trailed off, a blush rising on his cheeks again.

“That was awful.” Marinette laughed. “I’ll skip the quote, but I’ll leave out any nicknames, too.”

They had reached the front of her apartment building and stood just outside the light shining through the glass front doors.

“And I’m still thinking of a new nickname for you, Princess.”

She laughed again. “I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

He took her hand from his arm and kissed it with a bow. “Stay safe, Marinette.”

He started backing away, pulling out his baton and looking at the surrounding buildings for a good place to climb.

“Oh, wait!” Marinette said. Chat stopped. “I wanted to show you.” She pulled the notebook he had given her out of her bag. “I hope you don’t mind, but I decorated it a little.”

She held out the notebook. It was covered in ladybug stickers.

Chat reached out one claw to trace the biggest ladybug in the center.

He didn’t say anything, but the smile he wore was brilliant.

So brilliant that she didn’t see the confusion in his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com](https://cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com/) is more fun with you!


	6. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bit of Chat's perspective and some more information from Plagg on who Ladybug might be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short, but it exists! Here's the answer to why Chat was confused at the end of the previous chapter.

"Good evening, Adrien."

Adrien knew Nathalie well. That was her 'Your father won't be keeping whatever scheduled time you two made together' voice.

He stopped in the doorway to Nathalie's office, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "What's his excuse this time, Nathalie? Something with the company? The company we both work for, and that I know almost as well as him now? Another vague 'business meeting'?"

"He's not feeling well. He left in the middle of a conference call." She wouldn't meet his eyes.

Adrien narrowed his eyes. "He's never taken a sick day in his life."

"He has been..." Nathalie looked at him now, "affected by your mother's declaration as legally dead."

Adrien's anger deflated. His mother had disappeared a little over ten years before. Earlier that week, the paperwork had been finished.

“Then shouldn’t he want to have dinner with me, his family?”

Adrien saw Nathalie’s hand start to reach out to him as she used to do when he was young, guiding him and comforting him. She stopped, and he felt the gaping hole that used to hold his disappointment whenever he was denied the love he sought as a child.

Then she put her tablet down and pulled him into a hug.

"I miss her, too. And if I could make your father see that the three of us would be stronger together, I would."

He hugged her back. He could count on both hands how many times Nathalie had hugged him in the fifteen years he had known her. That made each of them mean that much more to him.

"I'll call you as soon as I can get him to schedule and stick to a dinner with you," she said when she walked with him back to the front door. "Go out and have some fun tonight. Get your mind off of all this."

Adrien swore he heard a sigh from his messenger bag. "Thanks, Nathalie. I'll try."

When he was down the block and found a hiding spot, Adrien opened his bag.

"You heard Nathalie," Adrien said, poking Plagg. "Time to have some fun."

"Napping and eating cheese is fun," Plagg said, refusing to open his eyes.

"And we can do that later tonight," Adrien said. "But I'd really just like to run around and not be Adrien for a bit."

Plagg floated up to bonk his head into Adrien's cheek. "Fine. So long as there's cheese later."

A moment later, Chat Noir was running across the rooftops. It was earlier in the evening than he usually went out. The summer sun still shone, but he didn't mind. He knew how to get around the city without being spotted. Almost every picture taken of him was blurry, of the few pictures people actually managed to take. He was always on the move or out of sight.

After he had run until his mind shut off, Chat Noir dropped onto the roof of a store and peeked over the edge. So many people. Some alone, some with friends, some with lovers, some with family. Watching these people made him feel less alone.

He watched until the crowds thinned. Just as he was considering going home and trying to convince Nino to play video games with him, a woman in a red shirt with a black skirt caught his eye. The color red was his favorite now. Knowing there was someone out there who would be his Ladybug made the color distracting. Someday he would find his soulmate, the one who would have had the Ladybug Miraculous. Had it not been destroyed.

_ "The only thing that can bring back a Cataclysm'd Miraculous is Lucky Charm. And that Ladybug hadn’t called for one before the Ladybug Miraculous was destroyed," Plagg had said. "But Kwamis are the embodiment of concepts. The concept of creation never went away. Tikki just can't take physical form anymore. I can see her whenever I'm in the Kwami Plane though. But even without a miraculous, my Sugarcube has a chosen. There's somebody out there who is Ladybug, just without the magic suit. And someday, you'll find him or her. I guarantee it. Hasn't failed for a single one of my kittens." _

_ "How do I find them?" he had asked. "How will I know when I've met them?" _

_"You'll know. They'll know." Plagg had shrugged. "It'll happen."_

In the dying sunlight, Chat Noir perked up at the sight of the familiar face wearing that shade of red. He leaped to his feet without thinking.

Walking Marinette home had been a nice distraction. He appreciated reading her work in the paper and found himself looking forward to her articles. She was cute and fun and he decided then and there that he needed to get together with her, Nino, and Alya soon.

As he was saying goodbye, Chat noticed that Marinette was wearing another Ladybug designed outfit. As he prepared to leave, he wondered if asking her about Ladybug as Chat would get him insight as she worked, instead of waiting until she found something to tell Adrien about.

And then she showed him her notebook.

Ladybugs.

She had an affinity for Ladybugs. A twist of fate had changed her career to point her to him, making her research him and write about him and seek him out. Couple that with how much he had grown to like her in such a short amount of time, and you got...

Could Marinette, not the fashion designer literally called ‘Ladybug’, be his soulmate?

Chat got to the rooftops and ran all the way home.

He didn't notice a car following him halfway there.

* * *

 

In his apartment, Adrien pulled out Camembert for Plagg but held the plate close.

"How do I know for sure who Ladybug is?"

Plagg's eyes narrowed. "You really think keeping cheese from me will make me want to tell you anything?"

"I think knowing that telling me will get you the cheese should work well, yes."

After a staring contest, Adrien held out a single piece. Plagg shoved the whole thing in his mouth.

"It's not a 'love at first sight' thing, kid. Get to know the candidates. You'll know when you know."

Plagg held out his paws expectantly. Adrien handed over another piece.

"There's the designer named Ladybug, but Marinette..." He glanced at the pile of newspapers on his desk.

Plagg shrugged, sniffing the piece of cheese thoroughly. "I don't know what to tell you. You'll know when you know. And so will she."

Adrien shoved the plate across the kitchen table and slumped back in his chair. He ignored Plagg as he dove on the cheese.

"I'm heading to bed," Adrien said. Plagg gave a quick wave before diving back on his snack.

In bed, Adrien curled up on one side of his queen size bed, facing the other. The pillow was untouched, the blanket flat. When he found Ladybug, would she be sleeping across from him someday?

Would having a soulmate mean having a family again?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spend time lurking on [cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com](https://cheeseeatingtrashmonster.tumblr.com/) and would be thrilled if you did too :)


End file.
